Aug 31, 2026 · 8 min
ICE enforcement drains spending beyond immigrant communities
How ICE arrests are creating 'economies of fear'
The episode examines how immigration enforcement can create lasting economic damage by suppressing commerce, work, population growth, and neighborhood investment.
- 1ICE presence is associated with sharp declines in local foot traffic and consumer spending across millions of businesses.
- 2Economic fear reaches non-immigrants and non-Hispanics, reducing shopping and workplace attendance beyond directly targeted communities.
- 3A proposed ICE facility on San Antonio’s East Side raises concerns about further discouraging residents, businesses, and investment.
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Exequiel Hernandez explains that ICE-related declines in spending and foot traffic extend beyond immigrant communities and may persist or worsen over time.
The brief
San Antonio’s East Side opens the story: James Norte describes how fear of ICE enforcement is changing daily behavior, including among U.S. citizens, in a neighborhood built around small businesses.
Exequiel “Zeke” Hernandez combines arrest locations with consumer-spending and cellphone foot-traffic data to measure what happens when ICE appears in a community.
The result is a broad economic shock: businesses lose foot traffic and spending, with declines affecting non-immigrants and non-Hispanics as well as immigrant communities.
The episode’s central tension is whether deportation policy can improve public safety while imposing persistent costs on health care, agriculture, construction, labor markets, and population growth.
Back in San Antonio, Norte warns that a proposed ICE processing and detention facility could deter businesses and residents from investing in the historically disinvested East Side.
Featuring
Exequiel HernandezMentioned
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement
San AntonioListen to the full episode and explore every guest, topic, and moment on PodLume.